1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to puddle and footwell lighting in a motor vehicle and, more particularly, to an apparatus that integrates the puddle and footwell lighting into a speaker grille.
2. Disclosure of Related Art
A conventional vehicle door includes one or more light emitting devices. The devices are used in one instance to illuminate the floor or footwell of the vehicle to enable safe ingress to and egress from the vehicle. The devices are also used to illuminate a ground surface outside of the vehicle so that a passenger exiting the vehicle is able to avoid puddles of water or other obstacles disposed outside of the vehicle.
A conventional vehicle door may also include a speaker grille. The speaker grille may be used to protect an audio speaker or other audio device disposed behind the grille from damage resulting, for example, from contact by a passenger or object with the speaker. The grille may also be used to hide the speaker in order to provide a more pleasing aesthetic appearance.
Conventional implementations of puddle and footwell lighting and speaker grilles within vehicle doors suffer from several deficiencies. First, manufacture, installation, and assembly of the lighting and the grilles consumes valuable time. Second, the lighting and the grilles take up valuable space within the vehicle. Finally, conventional implementations of the lighting and the grilles may not provide an optimum aesthetic appearance.
Light emitting devices and speaker grilles have been combined for use in vehicular applications and in unrelated applications (e.g., dancing or other forms of entertainment). Conventional combinations, however, have primarily been concerned with providing aesthetic benefits as opposed to more functional benefits. One example of this is seen in U.S. Pat. No. 4,875,143 which discloses a novelty vehicle accessory in which one or more lights are made to appear as if they are moving in a circle around the speaker grille.
There is thus a need for an apparatus that will provide one or more of the above-mentioned benefits.